Date?
by Waples.A
Summary: After Mary's death, John tries to visit Sherlock at least three times a week to keep him out of trouble. This time Sherlock notices something and John can't keep him in the dark any longer. Rating may change later
1. Chapter 1

_I wrote this a while back and thought it was time to read through it and post it. It's not that long but I'm still sorting out the next bit so I will get that to you when it's done.  
I own none of the characters and this hasn't been beta read so forgive any mistakes I have made.  
Enjoy. (well at least try to)  
_

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 **Date**

Chapter 1

John entered his old flat entrance and was welcomed by a smiling Mrs Hudson who gave him a hug. After Mary's death John stayed with Rosie at the house they bought when they we're together but he came to visit Sherlock when ever he could for old times sake. To make sure the detective didn't get to bored, he tried to come over at least 3 times a week but he had to fit visits around his work times. Because of overtime at the clinic and trying to look after Rosie, this was the first time he'd visited for at least 7 days and he knew about it when Mrs Hudson told him off for not at least phoning. Sometimes he brought Rosie around as well so she could spend some time with her god-father but this time he needed a break from both work and children, so Molly agreed to look after her for tonight. When he dropped his daughter off, Molly told him she could spend the night but John said he'd be back before 22:00 to pick her back up. After a bit of polite arguing (if that's even a thing) John agreed Rosie could stay the night and the smile on Molly's face grew at least 5x it's normal size before she thanked him, bid him a good night and shut the door. Then he headed straight for Baker's Street, knowing that Rosie was in good hands. After having a small catch up with Mrs H, John headed up to his old flat, well Mrs Husdon sort of pushed him up a bit. She kept telling John that Sherlock was lonely up in that flat by himself and that he needed someone a bit younger than he to keep an eye one him. John just kept thinking this was her way of telling him to get up there and ask him out. He gave up trying to tell her he wasn't gay because no matter how hard he tried no one listened to him.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed the door to the kitchen was closed but not really wanting to see what was in there anyway he went to the open living area door and poked his head in as he knocked.  
"Sherlock?" He took a step in and Sherlock's head poked around the corner from the kitchen. He was wearing a full face protector with gloves and was holding a small blowtorch in the hand he could see.  
"John!" He gave a startled but happy look to John before disappearing back into the kitchen. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for what could be around the corner, John followed his friend and saw him directing the blowtorch to what looked like a thumb which he was holding with a pair of tongs. Any one else would have turned around and ran as far away as they could while calling the police probably but John was still sort of used to it. He looked around the kitche and it looked excatly like the first time he was here. Full of science equiptment and papers with notes on them.  
"You can put the kettle on if you want John. I'll just finish this thumb, then..." He cut himself off as he quickly threw the thumb into a pot of liquid nitrogen. John sorted the kettle out as Sherlock switched the blowtorch off, brought the thumb back out the pot and after examining it for a minute he set it on an empty plate. Sherlock began to take off his protective gear as the kettle finished boiling and John poured teas.

Sherlock hadn't changed anything else about the flat other than how messy it was but that's just because John isn't there to clean up after him all the time. Mrs Hudson cleans still hovers and dusts some times but she never touches anything of Sherlock's, unless she tired of hearing him talk to the skull. She'll take that sometimes. Sherlock sat down in his chair and John brought his tea over then sat in his own. Both men with a tea in hand, they spoke about Sherlock's new case. Well Sherlock spoke, John couldn't get a word in edge ways. He had heard just about everything from Greg, but most of it was new ways of how Sherlock insulted Donovan or Anderson or how he's taken some evidence and won't give it back. He still listened though because it always seemed to make Sherlock happy when John listen to him about the cases. It made him happy when John listen to him full stop. When Sherlock had told him everything, they fell into a companinable silence and then John put his tea on the side table and pulled his phone out to look at the time. 19:23. He felt himself become hungry, realising he didn't have anything to eat before he left and knowing Sherlock won't have eaten anything either he decided to ask.  
"So when did you last eat?" Sherlock looked to the corner of his eye as he was thinking and opened his mouth to say something but he closed it again almost immeditly. John sighed at the silence he got as a reply. The fact that Sherlock had to think about it was enough for John.  
"Right. Shall we have Chinese?" He said as picked his phone back up to phone the take away.  
"Aren't you eating on your date?" John lowered his phone and looked to Sherlock.  
"What date?" He immediatly saw Sherlock's eyes scan him from top to bottom.  
"You're wearing new, well-fitted clothes which you've ironed also new shoes wich you haven't broken in yet and within the past, about, half hour, you've shaved, combed your hair and brushed your teeth. Also you're wearing an outrageous amount of aftershave and you seem incredibly nervous. Conclusion, you have a date tonight." John broke his eye contact with Sherlock and looked to his phone he was still holding as he smiled a little.  
"Erm, that..." He looked to Sherlock again as he carried on. "...That's for you, actually."

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 _Like I said, I know it's not that long and sorry I left it like that. I'm sorting the next bit and hopefully it won't take more than a couple of days...  
I am working on my other story as well if you want to check that one out. 'Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and Babysitter'  
Please review on how you think this one chapter went._

 _Thanks  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry about the long wait. I had some writers block, also I had a lot of over time at work and when my writers block passed I began writing a novel which kind of took over everything. But the second part is here now. I'm not sure when part three will arrive but I can assure you there will be one._

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Date?

John just waited for a reply but the only sound he could hear was the breath Sherlock took when his mouth opened as if was going to say something then closed as if he thought otherwise. For a good minute John was just being stared at.  
"Sherlock? You still there?" Again, Sherlock's mouth just opened and twitched a bit before it closed again. There was another moment of silence and staring before Sherlock spoke.  
"I... I don't understand." John laughed a little.  
"Sherlock Holmes doesn't understand. Well, there's a first time for everything." He straightened up in his seat a bit and cleared his throat a little. "I said, all of this..." He indicated to himself "... Is for you. And if you thought I was going on a date with someone, well you're kind of right, but the other person didn't know it was happening." There was another moment of Sherlock just staring at John obviously trying to process what John was saying.  
"So... You're saying... this... I... am you're... date?" He said dragging some of the words out as though he was thinking of the sentence as he was saying it. John smiled a little but then it disappeared when he realised Sherlock might not actually want to be his date. What if this was just a little to sudden for the detective.  
"Only if you want to be." John said quickly "I'm not forcing you to be my date tonight. We can just be two mate's having dinner like old times. If you want. I just thought..."  
"It's fine." He was cut off by Sherlock. "It's all fine. I just... I just didn't expect it... you to. You always said you..."  
"Weren't gay. Yeah I know. Technically, I didn't lie. I'm Bi." Sherlock nodded once then got up out of his seat and headed to the kitchen. He paused in the doorway.  
"If I had known, I would have tidied up a little." John laughed a little before he turned around in his heat but Sherlock wasn't in the doorway anymore. He stopped smiling and turned back to look at Sherlock's chair.

About 10 minutes passed while John sat in silence. He thought about getting up and leaving but where had Sherlock disappeared to? He heard something behind him and turned in his seat again to find Sherlock stood there dressed one of his nice suits, (they were all nice but this one was really nice), holding his scarf. He walked over to stand in front of John and held out his hand. John could smell the expensive aftershave that he had put on.  
"I thought you might want to go out for dinner. That what people do on first dates isn't it?"  
"So... you want this to be a date?" John said unsure of to what to think. Out of all the scenarios he had thought of over the past few days, this was not one of them.  
"I thought that was obvi..." Sherlock trailed off and changed what he was going to say. "... I mean, of course. Come on, Angelo's shuts soon." There was a small silence before Sherlock spoke again. "Unless you want to stay here."  
"No, if you want to go out we can go out." He took Sherlock's hand and stood up. Sherlock let him go once he was stood and he put his scarf on. They went down stairs and Sherlock put his coat on before opening the door and letting John through first.

It was a chilly evening and Sherlock took his gloves out of his pocket and put them on, while John just put his hands in his pocket. They walked to Angelo's in near silence. The only time they spoke was when Sherlock asked if John was cold to which he replied 'no'. They got to the café and Sherlock opened the door letting John through first. One waiter saw them immediately and took them to the table they always used. The waiter took a reserved sign off the table and walked away to let them settle. They both sat exactly where they were on their first time there. John gave up asking if Sherlock phoned up in advance and just assumed that the table was always reserved just for him. It didn't take long for Angelo to come over with menus and to do his small speech about everything being free for both of them. As he turned to leave John spoke.  
"Angelo... Erm, can we have a candle. Make's it a bit more romantic you see." Sherlock smiled a bit as he looked down at the menu. After the many times they have been here together, over the years they have known each other, Angelo had finally understood that John was not Sherlock's date so he gave up bringing a candle over. A huge smile made it's way on to Angelo's face and he went and got one straight away, putting it in the middle of the table and lighting it, he didn't say anything else as he left them to think about what they wanted to eat.

Angelo brought their food over with a bottle of red wine and a jug of water then he left them to eat. John had Hunter's Chicken; A chicken breast wrapped and cooked in bacon, with melted cheese and barbecue sauce. Sherlock had a small steak with chips and a peppercorn sauce. It was only a small portion because he is still working a case, but he wanted to eat to make John happy. They sat and ate for a while in companable silence before John decided to ask a something.  
"What made you say yes?" Sherlock gave him a confused look as he finished his mouthful of steak.  
"Yes to what?"  
"This. Going on a date. With me. I never thought you'd say yes." Sherlock put his knife and fork down and took a sip of his wine.  
"John. I regretted saying I was married to my work when we first met but you were pushing it. We had only known each other a little over 24 hours and you were asking about my private life." John laughed a little  
"You didn't even have to ask about mine. You could see it as soon as I walked in the room at Bart's." Sherlock gave a small smile.  
"Fair enough. But I did regret it though. You never asked anything else afterwards either, I thought you had given up but then over the years I noticed little things that said differently." John gave him a confused look this time, so Sherlock explained.  
"When ever someone would say we were together you would always, no matter what, say that you weren't gay. But you never seemed to believe it yourself. You might not have realised it but every time, you always looked to me for conformation. As if you were trying to figure out if you liked me."  
"Yeah and you never said a word when people said we were a couple." Sherlock gave a little laugh.  
"That's because I always thought we could be." They both smiled and finished their meals in a companable silence.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm sorry for the long delay, but it's Christmas time and I've had a lot of over time at work. This one is short so I apologize for that as well.  
Please enjoy and don't forget to Review. _

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Date?

Once meals were finished they decided against pudding but they finished their bottle of wine before leaving. Angelo let them have the meal for free, just like every time they go there and they began their walk back to Baker's Street. They walked closer together on the way home. Sherlock went to put his hands in his pockets, like before but then he felt something. John had taken his hand and linked thier fingers together. He was going to say something about it but decided against it and just enjoyed the contact with his friend. Once they arrived at the door to 221 they let go of each other's hands and Sherlock opened the door and went in, holding the door for John, who didn't quite know what to do. This was normally where he would say goodbye to his date then go home after collecting Rosie. But Sherlock was holding the door so John went in and once the door was shut he followed Sherlock upstairs. He entered the flat and Sherlock was already removing his coat, which he threw over the back of one of the desk chairs as he moved to the fireplace. John watched as Sherlock bent down and began to light the fire. He emoved his own coat and put it on top of Sherlock's. Neither of the men saying a word as Sherlock got the fire going and John watched sat in his own chair. Once the fire was going on it's own Sherlock stood and sat in his own chair opposite John.

The two men sat in companable silence and watched the fire for around 10 minutes before one spoke.  
"So how's Rosie? I haven't seen her for a while." Sherlock asked not looking at his friend, eyes still on the fire.  
"She's good. A quick learner. I'll bring her around soon." John saw Sherlock's mouth twitch into a smile for a second.  
"Thank you. I look forward to it." They both fell silent again but John knew what this silence was. This was silence where Sherlock was trying to think of something to say. It didn't happen very often but John could always see the twitch of his friends eyebrows when he was going over a conversation in his head. Then Sherlock's eyebrows relaxed and John knew he had figured out what to say.  
"John?"  
"Yeah?" John noticed Sherlock wasn't looking into the fire anymore but into his lap.  
"Why don't you visit more often? This is the first time in nearly 2 weeks and I haven't seen Rosie for nearly a month."  
"Sorry, I've had a lot of work at the clinic. I'll try and come round more often." Sherlock just nodded then he got up and went to the kitchen while asking if John wanted wine. John accepted the offer and then looked at his watch for the time. It was nearly half past nine and John didn't even know if he was staying here tonight or not. At least he didn't have to worry about Rosie who is staying at Molly's for the night but he will have to leave soon if he wants to get a good nights sleep before work tomorrow.

Sherlock came over with two glasses of wine. John took his glass and set it on his side table. As Sherlock sat down with his own, John looked at his watch again and spoke.  
"Erm, I'll have to leave soon. Rosie's at Molly's for the night so I'm hoping to get a good nights sleep before work tomorrow." As soon as John finished speaking Sherlock looked up and swallowed his wine before quickly replying.  
"Do you not want to stay here tonight? That's what you normally do when you go on a date with a woman. I never see you till the next day." John nearly coughed up his own wine. Sherlock was right but did he know what John did those nights?  
"Erm, I mean, if you're offering of course I'll stay. Has Mrs H kept the bed made upstairs or..." John trailed off because saying 'will I have to share with you' didn't sound good in his head. But it was fine because Sherlock took the words as if he was mind-reading.  
"No, you'll have to share with me. I sleep on the right hand side. Is that alright?" John nodded and they fell into silence once more as they drank thier glasses and watched the fire.

Once John had finished his tea he took it to the kitchen sink to begin washing it but there were plates and cups that looked like they had been sat there for days waiting for thier turn to be washed. Without thinking about it, he began to fill the washing up bowl with warm soapy water. He began washing all the dishes and for a moment he felt like he never left 221B. For a moment he felt like he was at home. That is home as it was before Mary. He was pulled out of his trance when he felt someone behind him. Sherlock stood behind him and put his own cup down next to the dirty dishes.  
"You don't have to wash up. You're a guest and my date tonight." Sherlock had wrapped his arms around John torso and was restingis head on John's shoulder.  
"Yeah but if I don't do them, who will? Because I know you won't." John felt Sherlock smile a little and then he was gone. John looked behind him to see Sherlock grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses. John put his attention back on the dishes but then a glass half full of wine appered in front of him and before he could think about grabbing it, it was at his lips. He sipped a little and it was moved away.  
"That's the forth glass I will have had tonight. Are you trying to get me drunk?" John said as he continued washing up.  
"Is it working?" Was all he heard before the glass appered in front of him again, but this time he was ready for it. After taking a sip, it disappered once again and he realised he was nearly finished with the dishes. He felt Sherlock's arms wrap around him again and found it quite nice to have the detective this close.


End file.
